Ate exercise cal's back....and gained....am NOT sold!

veganbaum

I think people who eat exercise calories back just want an excuse to eat more and more ****. If you're going to diet, diet. Don't sit there making up excuses to eat all the crap that made you overweight to start with.

Hi! Welcome to MFP! So nice to see new faces who are supportive and motivating and know exactly what they're talking about.

melmorrow76

The idea to set your calculator to zero exercise and then leave yourself a 500cal/day (for 1 pound) or 1000cal/day (for 2 pounds) and factor in your exercise is an awesome idea! Way less complicated. Then you still eat a bit more if you exercise.

Thanks for the helpful tip!

krisiepoo

the exercise calories on MFP seem grossly out of proportion... I wouldn't eat all of them back.

I actually set my calories to include daily exercise so I don't even log my exercise because it's already set to what I figure I"ll exercise in a week

mommajolynn

I don't even log my exercise cals anymore. I work out but then I just eat my regular cals for the day. I log my cals as lightly active so it all evens out.

veganbaum

The idea to set your calculator to zero exercise and then leave yourself a 500cal/day (for 1 pound) or 1000cal/day (for 2 pounds) and factor in your exercise is an awesome idea! Way less complicated. Then you still eat a bit more if you exercise.

Thanks for the helpful tip!

Precisely! A lot of people on MFP are "everyday" people just starting out. Other plans have ALL women eating 1200-1500 or use your TDEE as a baseline for a deficit. Using TDEE is great, but can create issues for those who are not at that stage where their exercise is set so they can end up eating too much since TDEE already includes calories for fuel for exercise. I think MFP can help people be successful when they weren't before because they were too hungry all the time since they were eating less than they had to and it can be motivational for people who don't exercise to do so.

It's just a shame that some don't understand the way MFP works, where their deficit is, why exercise cals are added in, and so forth.

JensQi

Yeah do not uderstand this Concept...I have done it this last week and did not imporve on anything, I just burn more calories then I am eating...going to start it again Monday..."friends Are welcome in my Circle

JensQi

I never heard of eating back your exercise calories. It doesn't sound right to me. I figure more calories I burn is a plus.
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Like this Comment this I understand..Make it as simple as possible..thats how I work..;:drinker:

wild_wild_life

The idea to set your calculator to zero exercise and then leave yourself a 500cal/day (for 1 pound) or 1000cal/day (for 2 pounds) and factor in your exercise is an awesome idea! Way less complicated. Then you still eat a bit more if you exercise.

Thanks for the helpful tip!

Precisely! A lot of people on MFP are "everyday" people just starting out. Other plans have ALL women eating 1200-1500 or use your TDEE as a baseline for a deficit. Using TDEE is great, but can create issues for those who are not at that stage where their exercise is set so they can end up eating too much since TDEE already includes calories for fuel for exercise. I think MFP can help people be successful when they weren't before because they were too hungry all the time since they were eating less than they had to and it can be motivational for people who don't exercise to do so.

It's just a shame that some don't understand the way MFP works, where their deficit is, why exercise cals are added in, and so forth.

Agreed! Thank you, little lion. Why do people think they are not "supposed" to eat exercise calories when MFP adds them to the goal for you? How much more clear could it be? I understand saying they are are an overestimation and not eating 100% of them but I feel like a lot of people just don't understand the basic principles of the site.

farmgirlsuz

I have always eaten back my exercise calories (I love food) and lost 55 pounds doing so. Everyone is different. I think the key (for ME) was to use those extra calories to eat HEALTHY food, not just eat anything to reach that magic number. Watch your macros.

Good luck-just figure out what is right for YOU and take everyone else's advice with a grain of salt.

speediejane

BUMP

true2texas

Eating the cals you burned cancels out your exercise which leaves you at zero weight loss. If you want to maintain the weight you are at now that wouldn't be a problem. To lose weight you have to burn MORE calories than you consume. So, I wouldn't eat many of my exercise calories unless you are seriously working out and burning 500+ cals in exercise alone--like long-distance runners. I run like 6miles on some days and burn like 700+ cals, therefore on those days I eat more of my cals to restore energy.

GeekMom17

I don't eat mine back unless I dip below a net of 1000. My goal is 1500 a day and if I eat that and exercise I will eat a little over but, I never eat them all back. To me that would defeat the purpose at least I think so.

mcarter99

I think there are pitfalls you need to watch out for if you 'eat back'.

* People say the MFP database overestimates exercise calories. (I have no idea.)

* Claims made by the people making the exercise class or DVD are often exaggerated ("Zumba burns 1000 calories", eg)

* A Polar HRM was found in a study to overestimate calorie burn for women by over 30% on average

* A HRM nearly always includes your BMR calories, so you're eating back part of your expected deficit unless you make adjustments

* Even if you told MFP you're sedentary, you still are expected to burn 20% of your BMR through daily activity. So don't try to log every movement you make. Even sedentary people fold laundry and sweep floors and walk the grocery store aisles.

And not really a pitfall but a sidenote-- If MFP only 'allows' you .5 lb loss/week because you can't go below 1200, 'eating back' is agreeing to that loss rate. Most plans/authorities/doctors would be fine with you adding activity to be able to burn 1-2 lbs/week, in my opinion.

veganbaum

Eating the cals you burned cancels out your exercise which leaves you at zero weight loss. If you want to maintain the weight you are at now that wouldn't be a problem. To lose weight you have to burn MORE calories than you consume. So, I wouldn't eat many of my exercise calories unless you are seriously working out and burning 500+ cals in exercise alone--like long-distance runners. I run like 6miles on some days and burn like 700+ cals, therefore on those days I eat more of my cals to restore energy.

This is false if you are using MFP's set-up without customizing. MFP ALREADY gives you a deficit to lose weight WITHOUT exercise. If a person's goal is to lose 2lb/wk they ALREADY have a 7,000 calorie weekly deficit. They go out and exercise 5x/wk - conservatively maybe a 1500 extra deficit - if they eat that 1500, they STILL have a 7,000 calorie deficit. Making a bigger deficit is not the healthiest thing to do, especially if you are not significantly overweight.

apriltrainer

I think there are pitfalls you need to watch out for if you 'eat back'.

* People say the MFP database overestimates exercise calories. (I have no idea.)

* Claims made by the people making the exercise class or DVD are often exaggerated ("Zumba burns 1000 calories", eg)

* A Polar HRM was found in a study to overestimate calorie burn for women by over 30% on average

* A HRM nearly always includes your BMR calories, so you're eating back part of your expected deficit unless you make adjustments

* Even if you told MFP you're sedentary, you still are expected to burn 20% of your BMR through daily activity. So don't try to log every movement you make. Even sedentary people fold laundry and sweep floors and walk the grocery store aisles.

And not really a pitfall but a sidenote-- If MFP only 'allows' you .5 lb loss/week because you can't go below 1200, 'eating back' is agreeing to that loss rate. Most plans/authorities/doctors would be fine with you adding activity to be able to burn 1-2 lbs/week, in my opinion.

Good thing stopped relying on my polar. If the machine tells me 300...and my hrm tells me 100...can you imagine how little I am actually burning?

So I don't log any activity..

nataliexxxx

I don't eat mine back I lose faster

SuziQueue

My dietitian has advised me that I should not "eat my exercise calories". She says I should net no less than 1000 calories a day, and that I should shoot for 1200. She has warned me that as I get smaller my allowed calories are going to drop, which makes good sense. I'm 5'6" and weigh 216 right now. Hope this helps!

tvanhooser

Every "expert" tells you something different based on their own perspective and presuppositions. You just have to find what works for you and stick to it. As for me, MFP set me at a bare minimum base of 1200 and I am fairly sedentary as a writer and lifelong exercise hater. I'm only 5'1.5", had lost about 23 pounds through diet control alone before my friend introduced me to MFP. Due to medical issues with my knees and ankles, I finally got motivated to discipline myself start exercising in spite of myself and have been doing that pretty much 7 days a week for 2 1/2 months now. I'm about 21 pounds further along now (was hoping for about 10 more but have to adjust my expectations accordingly) and being an avid researcher (writers have to be) I've read alot of "professional advice" -- at least one that I've read said the whole eat your exercise calories back idea is a myth. The truth is probably somewhere in between the extremes of all or none. All I know is that even though MFP allows me 1600 to 1800 per day most days after exercise, if I eat more than 1400 or so, I start gaining so I shoot for somewhere between 1200 and 1400 most days and don't feel hungry, tired or sick so I'm sticking with that plan. I just have to watch the line for actual calories consumed, not the one that says I have X number of calories (carbs/fats/protein, etc.) consumed. I also found a Mayo Clinic page the other day that said the recommended maximum sodium intake I am allowed on MFP is right, because I have high blood pressure, should be about 1000mg less so embarking on an experiment to see how that might play out and affect my weight loss cause I've read alot about salt and water theories of weight loss too. I believe that somewhere in the fine print there is a disclaimer about the recommendations being generalizations and everyone's body will respond differently. So find the level that works for your weight loss while still being healthy and go with it. No one can tell you what is going to work for your body but you. You just have to tune out all the fitness nazis who insist that their way is the only way and you are on the path of doom and destruction if you do anything else. Develop selective hearing and discernment about what's good science and health and doable for you and what's hokum and hearsay and bully talk. I have no patience for the latter so just choose voluntary deafness or walk away when I hear it. Good luck and many blessings on your efforts as you go forward!

jellybeanhed313

I would agree that exercise calories are waaaaay over estimated here. When I use my fit bit to measure a workout vs using mfp's estimate, I get about half the calories burned. So I would just eat back half. Plus it depends on the activity level you set. Mfp gives you calories back already for that activity.

gjulie

I eat most of my exercise calories. My settings are for light activity and a goal of 1 pound per week for weight loss. That allows me 1400 calories per day, which just wasn't enough for me. I found myself feeling hungry all day long. So now I work out more. Sixty minutes every day. My weight loss has slowed down a bit but I don't feel like I'm constantly starving anymore. For me, it's worth it.